Memories
by Almost Famous 12
Summary: Now 21, Zack takes a look back on his childhood, and at an old friend, long gone. OneShot.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, or the two episodes described.

**Memories**

Zack Martin turned the page. Each new page brought a smile to his face, the memories flowing through him.

It was a scrapbook of his childhood that his twin brother, Cody, had made for him, with all the old pictures that had been lying around.

Now twenty-one and in college, he didn't have much time for freedom, so it was nice just to sit back and relax for once.

It had been he and Cody's birthdays just the day before, and the scrapbook had been a gift to him from Cody.

Zack looked down at the blue page, and a picture caught his eye. He recognized himself, nine years before, with his best friend, Max, a pretty girl, with shiny brunette hair, and the most beautiful eyes. It was taken during the qualifying round of a dance competition for couples.

He remembered what had happened very clearly. Max had told him to be sure he wouldn't hurt himself, and he had disobeyed her. Cody had had to replace him.

Zack chuckled, as he relived the memory: Max saying how she _really _wanted to be in the dance competition; Zack and Max practicing the routine; The two of them competing; Zack jumping on the bed and injuring himself; Cody being told just to stand on stage and "look pretty"; Cody dancing anyway, losing his balance, and being disqualified. He really had been such a loser.

The next photograph in the album that really made Zack stop and think showed six people in red basketball jerseys. Zack was there, along with Max and Cody. He recognized his old friend, Tapeworm, as well. If Zack had been Tapeworm, he would have dropped the nickname sometime before high school, but, alas, Zack was Zack, and, up until his graduating year, Tapeworm had been Tapeworm. There were two other boys in the photograph that Zack didn't remember.

Though he wasn't pictured, Zack knew that the coach was the one taking the photograph. His name was Arwin, and he was a janitor at the hotel he had lived in during his youth.

Zack remembered the basketball team. It had been great fun, sure, but he remembered it most because of what it led to. Upon winning an important game, Max had kissed him. Both of them had been surprised, even Max.

Tapeworm and Cody had insisted he ask her out on a date, Zack recalled. He had done it. At the time, he thought it was for the team, to stop Max from fighting with him.

The date had been great, up until the end, when Zack let it slip that Tapeworm and his brother had pushed him into it. Then it was a fiasco. Zack remembered Max, then the taste of pie in his mouth, the smell of it in his nose, as she threw their desert in his face.

Zack turned the page again. A loose photograph fell out of the book. He bent down and picked it up.

It was a picture from his senior prom, just three years before. He and Max had gone together, seeing as neither of them was dating anyone.

He looked closely at the photo, holding back tears, and a younger Zack and Max looked back. He was happy then, and he could see it in his face. The twinkle in his eyes was gone now; the rose in his cheeks had long since disappeared.

He really had loved her. He often scolded himself for not realizing it sooner. Shortly after the picture was taken, Max had been involved in a horrible car crash, which ended her life.

Thinking of this was unbearable. The tears flowed from his eyes, now involuntary. He thought he knew why the picture had been shoved into the middle of the book: Cody was still debating whether to include it.

The sudden grumble on his stomach brought him off memory lane and back into the real world. Realizing what time it was, he closed the book and set it on his bedside table, where he knew he would find it, and left to go get dinner, wiping his eyes on his shirttail.

On the cover was a picture of the Tipton hotel, when he was twelve, and had first moved in.

**Author's Note: **Sorry about killing off Max… It just felt like the right thing. Please review, and I'm expecting a lot of them!


End file.
